and aching.
How long had she been down here? Hours? It felt like hours. The
quiet stretched on forever, like the dark.
Was Nick awake by now? He would be worried when he awoke and
she was gone. And her mother . . . Please, dear God, get me out of here,
and I’ll never fight with my mother again.
How long had she been down here? She wished she wore a watch. A
luminous dial would be really nice right now. But kitchen workers didn’t
wear watches. She strained her eyes against the darkness. Nothing to tell
her whether it was day or night, no hint of light or anything else. Only her
body warned her time was passing. She was thirsty and cold and she
needed to pee. Her limbs were shaking. Her whole body was shaking.
Okay, she really had to get up. Nobody was coming to get her out of
this one. Not Alain, not her mother, not Caleb, not . . .
She didn’t want to think about Dylan. Dylan was gone, like her
father, like Nick’s father, like every other man in her life. “You knew all
along I would not stay.”
Her anger was good. It warmed her, a hard little lump smoldering
like a coal in the pit of her stomach. So she didn’t have a knight in
99
shining armor riding to her rescue. She still had a life waiting for her
somewhere in the sunlight. She had a son.
She climbed to her feet.
There was a way in. There had to be a way out.
* * *
“Holy Christ,” Caleb breathed.
The unconscious man’s exposed palm was orange, raw and swollen;
the fingers blistered dirty white; the skin puffing, sloughing off. And
black in the center like a brand was the oozing sign of the cross.
“Yes,” Dylan agreed simply. “If he was possessed, he is not now.”
“You can’t know that.”
“Demons would not inflict such a mark.”
“You think he did this to himself?”
Dylan shrugged. “It would protect him. No demon would willingly
stay for long in a host branded by the cross.”
Caleb sighed. “I hate this woo-woo shit. Okay, say a demon
possessed Jones. You’re sure about that?”
Dylan nodded. “The fire spoor is all over him.”
“I’ll take your word for it. Jones gets burned, we don’t know how.
Demon . . . jumps?”
“Probably not at once,” Dylan said. “The mark would gradually
grow more and more unbearable. But it would take time for the demon to
relinquish its host.”
“Or to find a new one?” Caleb asked. His voice was steady. His hand
holding the flashlight was not.
100
Dylan watched the trembling beam of the flashlight and felt a rare
sympathy for his human brother.
Caleb had experience with possession. The demon Tan had tried to
take him over. Caleb had been willing to die, had died, had drowned
himself, rather than submit to the demon’s control. Dylan had dragged
Caleb’s body from the ocean bottom.
This could not be easy for him.
“Yes,” Dylan said.
“Shit,” Caleb said again, wearily. He rubbed his face with his free
hand. “So we’ve got some time.”
“We have time. Regina may not.” A deep and unfamiliar fear settled
in his bones. Dylan forced his mind away from it, struggled to focus on
the next step. “We don’t know what this Jericho did with her before the
demon left him. Or where it went. You must arrest the men outside, the
ones he had contact with.”
“I can watch them. I can’t arrest them. I need proof. Probable cause.”
“I can scan them,” Dylan offered. “If any of them are possessed, I
will know.”
“It doesn’t matter a rat’s ass if they’re possessed. Not unless or until
one of them breaks the law.”
“I don’t care about human laws. Or humans either.” Only Regina.
He shied away from the thought.
“That was always your problem, bro.” Caleb slid an arm under the
unconscious man.
Dylan’s brows drew together. “What are you doing?”
Caleb raised Jericho to a sitting position. “Getting him out of here.”
“He won’t lead us to Regina. He can’t
How long had she been down here? Hours? It felt like hours. The
quiet stretched on forever, like the dark.
Was Nick awake by now? He would be worried when he awoke and
she was gone. And her mother . . . Please, dear God, get me out of here,
and I’ll never fight with my mother again.
How long had she been down here? She wished she wore a watch. A
luminous dial would be really nice right now. But kitchen workers didn’t
wear watches. She strained her eyes against the darkness. Nothing to tell
her whether it was day or night, no hint of light or anything else. Only her
body warned her time was passing. She was thirsty and cold and she
needed to pee. Her limbs were shaking. Her whole body was shaking.
Okay, she really had to get up. Nobody was coming to get her out of
this one. Not Alain, not her mother, not Caleb, not . . .
She didn’t want to think about Dylan. Dylan was gone, like her
father, like Nick’s father, like every other man in her life. “You knew all
along I would not stay.”
Her anger was good. It warmed her, a hard little lump smoldering
like a coal in the pit of her stomach. So she didn’t have a knight in
99
shining armor riding to her rescue. She still had a life waiting for her
somewhere in the sunlight. She had a son.
She climbed to her feet.
There was a way in. There had to be a way out.
* * *
“Holy Christ,” Caleb breathed.
The unconscious man’s exposed palm was orange, raw and swollen;
the fingers blistered dirty white; the skin puffing, sloughing off. And
black in the center like a brand was the oozing sign of the cross.
“Yes,” Dylan agreed simply. “If he was possessed, he is not now.”
“You can’t know that.”
“Demons would not inflict such a mark.”
“You think he did this to himself?”
Dylan shrugged. “It would protect him. No demon would willingly
stay for long in a host branded by the cross.”
Caleb sighed. “I hate this woo-woo shit. Okay, say a demon
possessed Jones. You’re sure about that?”
Dylan nodded. “The fire spoor is all over him.”
“I’ll take your word for it. Jones gets burned, we don’t know how.
Demon . . . jumps?”
“Probably not at once,” Dylan said. “The mark would gradually
grow more and more unbearable. But it would take time for the demon to
relinquish its host.”
“Or to find a new one?” Caleb asked. His voice was steady. His hand
holding the flashlight was not.
100
Dylan watched the trembling beam of the flashlight and felt a rare
sympathy for his human brother.
Caleb had experience with possession. The demon Tan had tried to
take him over. Caleb had been willing to die, had died, had drowned
himself, rather than submit to the demon’s control. Dylan had dragged
Caleb’s body from the ocean bottom.
This could not be easy for him.
“Yes,” Dylan said.
“Shit,” Caleb said again, wearily. He rubbed his face with his free
hand. “So we’ve got some time.”
“We have time. Regina may not.” A deep and unfamiliar fear settled
in his bones. Dylan forced his mind away from it, struggled to focus on
the next step. “We don’t know what this Jericho did with her before the
demon left him. Or where it went. You must arrest the men outside, the
ones he had contact with.”
“I can watch them. I can’t arrest them. I need proof. Probable cause.”
“I can scan them,” Dylan offered. “If any of them are possessed, I
will know.”
“It doesn’t matter a rat’s ass if they’re possessed. Not unless or until
one of them breaks the law.”
“I don’t care about human laws. Or humans either.” Only Regina.
He shied away from the thought.
“That was always your problem, bro.” Caleb slid an arm under the
unconscious man.
Dylan’s brows drew together. “What are you doing?”
Caleb raised Jericho to a sitting position. “Getting him out of here.”
“He won’t lead us to Regina. He can’t
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